SPEAKER PROFILES

Kapil Dev Singh, Country Manager 
IDC (India) Limited 

Kapil Dev Singh is the country manager of IDC (India) Limited and in this capacity he is responsible for the management and business operations of the company in India.

Kapil has over twelve years of industry experience, of which close to ten years is in business research. In his earlier stints, Kapil has headed several new initiatives at IDC (India) Limited including software & services research, corporate research, Internet research etc. Of these Kapil built up the Software & Services Research practice from scratch. Prior to joining IDC, Kapil worked for three years with IMRB (part of the WPP group and southern Asia’s largest research firm) and for one year with the HCL group. Kapil is widely quoted in the press and is a regular speaker at various industry forums. 

Kapil’s areas of interest include industry analysis, business strategy, change management, resource planning and teaching.

Kapil holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical) from Bengal Engineering College (Calcutta University) and a Master’s degree in Business Administration (Marketing) from Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (Calcutta University). Kapil believes in continual improvement through a systematic approach and himself is a lead auditor for ISO 9001: 2000 requirements. 

Deepak Kumar, General Manager, Communication Research 
IDC (India) Limited

Deepak Kumar has the operational responsibility of planning, executing and managing all supply side research activities of IDC India in the space of telecommunications, data communications, Internet and E-commerce. 

Deepak carries more than 15 years of experience in journalism, editorial, analysis and other associated fields. More than half of his experience is in technology field, particularly in communications industry. His specializations are in Cellular Services, WiMax, OSS/BSS, Networking, etc. 

Prior to joining IDC, he was with Reuters and Voice & Data, in editorial roles. Voice & Data is the leading magazine in India focused in communication field. Research and analysis was a part and parcel of his responsibilities there. 

Jean Critcher, Head of Application Management Competency Centre
Orange Business Services

Jean Critcher has over 12 years experience working in the telecommunications and IT consulting industries developing and delivering IT and network services and solutions for multi-national customers in all global markets. In the 1990s, she exercised her entrepreneurial skills involved with several IT and consulting startups who specialized in cutting-edge technologies and standards for network services including IPv6 and Voice over IP. She has been with the France Telecom Group since 2000 in several roles ranging from network engineering to product management to consulting. She spent 5 years in France for Orange Business Services leading major application management service development projects based on the latest vendor technologies and developing the most effective consulting methodologies that provide deliverables which correspond to the IT and business alignment needs of the customer. Since 2005, she has been in her current role as Head of the Application Management Competency Center in the Global Professional Services Business Unit at Orange Business Services where she manages a competency of over 100 global consultants delivering application performance management and network optimization solutions to a global customer base. She currently resides in the United States. She has bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Vocal Music Performance and is completing her MBA in IT Technology Management.

R. Ramaraj 
Industry Thought Leader

Ramaraj, is the Co- Founder and till recently the CEO of Sify Limited, the pioneer and leader in Internet, Networking and eCommerce Services in India. Sify was the first Indian Internet company to be listed on the Nasdaq National Market in the US (NASDAQ : SIFY).

Ramaraj was recognized as the ‘Evangelist of the Year’ at the India Internet World Convention in September 2000. And in 2001, in a CNET.com poll in India, Ramaraj was voted the IT Person of the Year 2000. He was invited by the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan to be a member of UN’s Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG).

Ramaraj is a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from the University of Madras and an MBA from the IIM, Calcutta. Beginning his career in Sales and Marketing, Ramaraj went on to pioneer the retail marketing of computers in India by establishing Computer Point in 1984. He was a Founder Director of Microland Ltd before a stint in cellular telephony as Director, Sterling Cellular up to 1996. 

Currently Ramaraj is associated on a part time basis, as a Venture partner/mentor at Sequoia Capital and is a member of the global Board of Trustees of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs). Ramaraj is the first Indian to be invited to the Board of Directors of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).